North Carolina St at South Carolina- I look for the Spurrier led Gamecocks to come out firing this year as they try to erase the bitter taste from last season. SC returns 17 starters but must find that elusive qb that Spurrier has been missing since he arrived. Chris Smelley should get the first shot. He was a highly touted qb coming out of HS, and did play quite a bit as a freshman. If the Gamecocks get solid qb play they will be a very good team this season. NC State is led by Tom O'Brien who has to be kicking himself for leaving Boston College. NC State should finish last in the Atlantic division of the ACC. There offense should be slightly better from the poor offense in 2007. The defense which was bad last year, may be worse in 2008

*** Missouri - 8.5

Missouri Defeated Illinois last year 40-34 as a 4 point favorite. The Tigers return 14 players from a team that was one win away from playing for a national championship. With Chase Daniel back at QB the offense is going to be outstanding again. The defense returns 8 starters and will be much improved this season. Illinois was an outstanding rushing team in 2007, thanks in a large part to Rasheed Mendenhall. With Mendehall gone the running game will probably not be as potent, so more will be asked of QB Juice Williams. I look for Missouri to shut down the running game and force the erratic Williams to beat them.

**** USC -19.5

My question here is how is Virginia going to score? Virginia is one of the poorer offenses in the ACC and really lack any identity on offense. Combine that with the fact the USC defense is flat out loaded. This game has blow out written all over it.

Yeah I am not professing to be an expert either. Like your plays I was thinking of adding Clemson as I think this will be a breakout year for them and I look for them to show that game one against Bama. Curious what are your thoughts on the East Carolina play?

I understand E carolina was a solid team last year, but they lost Chris Johnson by far there best player on offense. There defense should be better than last year, but how much better??? The qb spot is a concern.

paddio wrote:Curious what are your thoughts on the East Carolina play?

Given that they only lost by 10 to VA Tech last year, and without their starting QB, in Blacksburg, I like their chances to keep it within 9. In the game, one of VA Tech's TDs was a pick 6, so they really didn't play that well offensively. In fact, VA Tech turned it over 3 times and had just 33 rush yards. And ECU had a bad defense last year that gave up over 30 pts and 430 ypg.

A better ECU team (with something to prove as a mid-major and hoping to get some momentum before hosing WVU next week) plus a VA Tech team that may be a bit out of synch, it's not a great pick, but I think it's a pretty good one.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

paddio wrote:Curious what are your thoughts on the East Carolina play?

Given that they only lost by 10 to VA Tech last year, and without their starting QB, in Blacksburg, I like their chances to keep it within 9. In the game, one of VA Tech's TDs was a pick 6, so they really didn't play that well offensively. In fact, VA Tech turned it over 3 times and had just 33 rush yards. And ECU had a bad defense last year that gave up over 30 pts and 430 ypg.

A better ECU team (with something to prove as a mid-major and hoping to get some momentum before hosing WVU next week) plus a VA Tech team that may be a bit out of synch, it's not a great pick, but I think it's a pretty good one.

A note on taking the under: The college play clock went up to :40 from :25 this year. And also, on out-of-bounds plays, the clock starts again when the ball is spotted, except under the last 2 min of a half.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

I have a hard time seeing BG stopping the Pitt Rushing attack. BG gave up nearly 5 ypc last year on the ground. While they will be improved on defense, I am not sure by how much. Pitt will have a pretty good defense this year.

I guess I just don't see BG winning...maybe they can cover the 14 but I have my doubts

Oh well, I'm a $5 at a time guy, and that was a good showing no less. Won't make or break me, but it's a very encouraging start...even in defeat. I'll definitely be keeping a close eye on these throughout the year.

Well players, couldn't get the sweep, but as Meat Loaf used to say; 3 out of 4 ain't bad. Or something like that.

Anyway, the written article debuts next week, and Friday night on The Pipeline, The Lead Man is going to give you some sleepers - some college teams that should fly under the radar early in the season and provide some covers until the general public and media catches on to how good they are. Also the special Pipeline bonus pick.